Masks yes, mingling no: How the Confed Centre is adapting its holiday shows

Performances at the Confederation Centre of the Arts will look different this holiday season.

Patrons will enter through the upper plaza and head right to their seats without mingling in the lobby.

"I think that's probably the biggest challenge for everyone when they come to the theatre," saidJoy Gallant,manager of guest services. "Normally before, when you came down the stairslots of times there might be 1,000 people in the lobby."

The theatre normally seats 1,100, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, it can now accommodate only 300 for a single show. A maximum of four people can sit together.

The reduced capacity of course means reduced revenue. Artistic director Adam Brazier said some larger productions need at least 500 people to pay for themselves.

"That was the first shift for me, realizing what we can now afford to do on the stage has completely changed," he said.

Masks mandatory inside

Masks will be mandatory for everyone inside except the actors on stage.

As well, some productions will be livestreamed.

"This is a whole new world for us as theatre makers," Brazier said. "We're in the world of congregating people into one room to share a story and now we're learning how to continue to do that, but also [with] this added element of saying, 'Now the people at home can have an experience as well.'"

The temporary closing of the Atlantic bubble has provided another challenge for the theatre.

Staff are worried about whether the artists and actors who were supposed to arrive in Charlottetown from elsewhere in the Atlantic will still be able to come when they need to.

Staff said they've started thinking about what options they have if the bubble remains closed whether they will bring actors in two weeks early to quarantine, or make big changes to the productions.

They said much will depend on how things unfold in the coming days.

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